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Purpose

Mental illness stigma disproportionately affects help seeking among youth, men, and ethnic minorities. As part of a comprehensive statewide initiative to reduce mental illness stigma and discrimination in California, a broad set of contactbased educational programs were widely disseminated. This study examined whether the effects of contact-based educational programs varied depending on the age, gender, and race-ethnicity of participants.

Methods

Participants (N = 4122) attended a contact-based educational program that was delivered as part of the statewide initiative to reduce mental illness stigma and discrimination. Self-administered surveys assessing beliefs, attitudes, and intentions toward mental illnesses and treatment were conducted immediately before and after participation in contact-based educational programs.

Conclusions

Findings suggest that contact-based educational programs can achieve immediate reductions in mental illness stigma across a variety of sociodemographic groups and may particularly benefit young adults and racial–ethnic minorities. Further research is needed to assess whether contact-based educational programs can sustain longer-term changes and aid in the reduction of disparities in mental illness stigma and treatment.

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